George Clinton

George Clinton (26 July 1739-20 April 1812) served as Vice President of the United States from 4 March 1805 to 20 April 1812, succeeding Aaron Burr and preceding Elbridge Gerry. Clinton served as Governor of New York on two occasions, from 30 July 1777 to 30 June 1795, preceding John Jay, and again from 1 July 1801 to 30 June 1804, succeeding Jay and preceding Morgan Lewis.

Biography
George Clinton was born on 26 July 1739 in Little Britain, New York to a Presbyterian family of Anglo-Irish descent that had left County Longford, Ireland in 1729 to flee persecution by the Church of England. Clinton was the brother of James Clinton, and he served on a privateer and as a militiaman during the French and Indian War. From 1768 to 1776, Clinton was a member of the state assembly from Ulster County, and in December 1775 he was commissioned as a Brigadier-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Clinton kept taxes down through the seizure and sale of Tory estates, and he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge; he would later prepare an impressive dinner to celebrate George Washington's 1789 inaugaration as president, despite being opposed to the US Constitution and joining the Anti-Federalists. From 1777 to 1795, he served as Governor of New York, and in 1805 he was chosen as Thomas Jefferson's second Vice President after he amended the law that stated that the presidential runner-up must be Vice President. Clinton served under Jefferson at first, and he then continued to serve as Vice President under James Madison until he died of a heart attack in 1812 in Little Britain.